


L & Bucky

by neverfinishe



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Animals, Deaf Character, Deaf Clint, Dogs, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-23
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-05 21:05:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1832263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverfinishe/pseuds/neverfinishe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a point where Clint realizes that the two most important individuals in his life have names that rhyme and end with -ucky.</p>
            </blockquote>





	L & Bucky

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a whole bunch of piled together BS to get my writing going. It turned into a thing.

Bucky wakes up to something wet and rough against his cheek. He groans as he comes to. His brain tries to piece things together, but his sleepy state makes it nearly impossible to fill in the blanks. It’s not until he opens his eyes and gets flooded with fur and another long lick along his cheek that it makes sense. Well, no. It doesn’t make sense, but at least he knows that it’s a dog licking him.

He sits up, and the dog seems to get the hint. He sits back and watches him with a curious eye. Bucky notes that he’s missing the other one. His fur is somewhere between blond and chocolate, making Bucky think he must be a lab mix.

His brain tries to put the rest of it together, but he doesn’t know how the hell the dog got into his room.

He looks up when he hears a sound and raises an eyebrow when he sees Clint in the doorway. He has on a pair of black sweatpants, but he’s lacking a shirt. His chest is bruised to hell, and he’s got a few decently sized cuts.

“When did you get back?” Bucky asks, ignoring the elephant - dog - in the room.

“Four in the morning,” Clint answers. He moves over to the bed and hands Bucky a cup of coffee. If there’s one trait they share, it’s that they both need their caffeine if they’re expected to be even remotely human. Bucky can be awake in a snap, but he’s testy as hell. Clint doesn’t wake up at a drop of a dime unless it’s for a mission or one of his teammates is in trouble... again.

Bucky nods. He takes a large sip of coffee, not minding that it’s still hot enough to burn a typical person’s tongue. The dog puts his head on Bucky’s leg, and he can’t help but look at him again.

“He likes you,” Clint says with a grin that Bucky knows means that Clint is utterly satisfied with himself.

That’s when it clicks in Bucky’s head. He looks down at the one-eyed dog again. How many one-eyed dogs are there in the world that like pizza and live part time with an ex-not-ex-agent?

“Lucky,” he says softly.

The dogs ears perk up slightly, but he doesn’t seem to think there’s much reason to move.

“Mm,” Clint hums. He scratches behind Lucky’s ears.

-

The next day, Lucky is gone again, along with Clint. Bucky doesn’t think much of it. Clint comes and goes freely. It’s not as though their relationship is truly defined. They have one, but that’s about as far as they’ve gotten in that conversation.

He doesn’t see Lucky again until a week later. Clint’s come and gone again at that point, asks him to take care of Lucky for the night while he’s tied up with a mission.

Bucky figures feeding a dog and taking him out for a walk won’t be much trouble. It’s not, except that Lucky apparently doesn’t like other people carrying his leash. He fights Bucky, tugging as hard as he can until Bucky gives up and lets the dog pull free from him. Lucky picks the end up and happily walks himself to the door.

-

Clint comes back a day later, and Bucky is relieved of Lucky duty, which is really more like dog observation than dog babysitting.

-

They say dogs are like their owners, and he doesn’t think that’s entirely untrue. Lucky’s stubborn. He sleeps a lot, and he comes and goes from Clint’s apartment. He’s got Clint’s truly rotten luck, but he’s a good dog. That’s about all Bucky really thinks of him. He’s a good dog. Just a dog.

Until the morning Bucky is startled from a nightmare. He’s breathing hard, and he’s so unfocused he hasn’t even registered the dog’s presence or that his cheek is already wet. He’s trying to fight the memories that flood him, things the Soldier did, thinks he’s done, but he can’t.

Lucky nudges him. He nudges at his arm at first, but his wet nose firmly presses against Bucky’s neck when that doesn’t work. He nudges gently, trying to get something out of Bucky.

It startles Bucky initially, but he finds his fingers in Lucky’s hair. He’s still shaking and breathing unevenly, but he finds himself staring at Lucky. His mind still refuses to fully come back, but he’s able to relax after a few minutes.

Lucky keeps close to him the rest of the day.

By the time Clint gets back, Bucky’s curled up on the couch with the dog on the floor in front of him. His fingers are curled up in his fur. The television is loudly playing something as the screen flashes varying colors. There’s no response from Bucky, even as he gets closer, and he finds that the two are fast asleep.

Lucky looks up at him for a moment when Clint steps on a spot that squeaks. He puts his head back down and closes his eye, so Clint decides to leave the two alone.

-

Bucky finds himself missing the dog’s presence almost as much as he misses Clint’s when one or the other of them is on a mission. There’s no one there to wake him from nightmares. No one to calm him down with small, gentle touches. No one that will sit with him and expect nothing of him.

He doesn’t miss the way that Clint brings Lucky around more and more frequently, and he’s not sure whether that’s because Clint has noticed or because Clint has taken Bucky and Lucky’s bonding as permission to invade Bucky’s space as freely as he wants.

Bucky doesn’t mind either way.

He finds himself curled up next to the window with a book. Lucky settles at his feet with his head rested on Bucky’s left foot. It’s comfortable, and Bucky allows himself to get so caught up in the story that he dosn’t realize that two hours have gone by and Clint is home.

Clint takes a shower before settling close by with the assortment of things he needs to clean his equipment. The slight tapping that happens every now and then, as Clint picks something up or sets it down, is just as comforting as the rise and fall of Lucky’s fur as he breathes.

-

Somewhere in between A and Who-Fucking-Knows-But-Probably-Z, Clint stops going home. When he does, it’s more like SHIELD HQ to him. It’s home because he can put his head down to rest, but Clint seems easier around Bucky and in his space. Bucky doesn’t like the quiet, and he doesn’t like being alone. Clint and Lucky change that. Even when no one is talking, it’s never truly quiet.

-

Everything is going well until the mission when Clint gets shot in the gut. The bullet takes out some important things, and he’s stuck at medical for an extended period of time. The only thing that keeps Bucky calm and reasonable is the padding of Lucky’s feet as he makes his way through the living room, still clearly waiting for Clint to get back.

The moment he does, neither one of them leaves him alone. Clint bitches about that and his strict ice-cube-only diet, but he’s smiling as he curls up with the two most important creatures in his life... whose names just happen to rhyme.

-

Something about nearly losing Clint puts Bucky on edge for awhile. His nervous energy is stronger than the day Clint ran into the hobo sniper interrupting ( _saving,_ , Bucky insists) their attempt to fight off the baddie-(asshole-)of-the-week.

It gets under Clint’s skin until he blurts out, “Will you just tell me what the hell is going on?”

Bucky just stares at him, and Clint can’t help that he’s made a mistake. He should have just kept his mouth shut, because he cannot lose Bucky. He’s the best and most stable thing he’s had in a long time. Bucky’s kept him on his feet since entering his life, and he’s pretty sure he’s had a similar effect on Bucky. At the same time, there’s only so many lines he can intentionally cross with the almost-goal of wanting to push it too far.

“I-” He starts, quickly trying to diffuse the situation.

“You can’t die,” Bucky says in a way that sounds so wrong. Clint knows Bucky isn’t quite what everyone sees, but it’s so desperate and scared. He hates hearing that sort of thing come from Bucky, but he’s been through more hell than most people ever will.

It takes him a moment to realize what Bucky’s talking about, and Nat’s right. He’s the biggest, most oblivious asshole on the planet.

“Oh,” is all he manages to say for a long moment. Bucky just stares at him. He notes Lucky’s head shifting back and forth between the two of them, and he tries really hard to not think about how Lucky looks like the kid caught between mommy and daddy fighting (at least as far as TV shows go, anyways.)

His attempts fail, and he ends up laughing. Bucky seems to take great offense to that. It takes another good thirty minutes to calm down and explain that he has no intention of dying any time soon, and he’s really sorry he got shot, and he’ll try not to do it again, now can we please go have sex?

If Clint ends up with more bruises than normal, Bucky has no clue why.

-

Natasha gives them both shovel talks that actually make them fear for their lives. Honestly, Clint’s sort of been expecting that. It’s not exactly straight forward or even remotely shovel talk-y, but she makes her point perfectly clear.

Steve gives him a look one day after he finds the two in the kitchen of the floor that all of the Avengers share. Bucky disappears to go to the bathroom, and Clint just sort of slinks away.

The best part is when Coulson somehow manages to corner Bucky. Bucky comes home wholly confused and a little concerned for his well-being on future missions. Clint assures him that Coulson keeps his promises, and nothing will happen to him. 

Bucky doesn’t plan to hurt Clint, so he goes along with it.

-

Even after the conversation regarding their relationship and Clint’s unfortunate state of human without bastardized serums and the honorary threats by their friends, things don’t quite click in place until one morning when Bucky’s up and making coffee in his boxers in the kitchen. He rubs a hand over his eye as he waits. Clint emerges a moment later, looking half-conscious. Bucky pours him a cup of coffee and sets it down. Clint takes it and disappears.

Bucky rolls his eyes and sets on breakfast next. Clint might doze off, or he might get dressed. It’s hard to guess with him when he has no obligation to save the world or fuck with drug rings.

He slips into their room fifteen minutes later. Lucky’s head comes up, and Clint’s follows. He holds out the plate and Clint makes a small motion with his hand.

“You’re welcome,” Bucky says with a little smile. He settles on the bed to eat his own breakfast and drink his third cup of coffee. Lucky looks between them before settling again. Bucky thinks it’s perfect, or something close to it.


End file.
